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GLEANINGS IN BEE CUIyTURE. 



July 1 



Taking the expressions of some of the vete- 

 rans who have been in the business many 

 years, we might suppose one of them near the 

 close of life to express himself as follows : 

 i"" Judged from the standpoint of those who 

 measure success in life only by the amount of 

 wealth accumulated, my life has not been a 

 great success. Folks compare me with my 

 brother John, and have a feeling for me akin 

 to pity. John and I started life with equal 

 chances ; and, if I may be allowed to judge, 

 John had no more business ability than I. He 

 went into merchandizing, and devoted all his 

 energies to making money. He said he did 

 not care for money, only as it would allow 

 him to have something he could enjoy ; and 

 when he got enough he would give up the 

 drudgery and enjoy life. But somehow he 

 kept on piling up more and more, turning his 

 business talents in this direction and that ; 

 and although to-day he could buy and sell me 

 many times over, I don't believe he enjoys 

 lite any better than I. I have all I can eat, 

 and that's all he has in the way of food. He 

 may buy dainties that I can not afford, but his 

 dyspeptic stomach will punish him for eating 

 them ; and, having spent so much of my time 

 outdoors all these years, I have a hearty appe- 

 tite that makes me relish plain and whole- 

 some food more than he relishes dainties. 

 The great difference, however, between John's 

 life and mine is that, in the past years, his has 

 been one of continual drudgery, and mine has 

 been one mainly of enjoyment. I've had my 

 good times as I went along. Working at the 

 bees has been just as good sport as going 

 hunting or fishing, and it's a sport of which 

 one never wearies. So you see my playtime 

 has not been something to look forward to in 

 the future, but something I've had all along. 

 No, with all his wealth I wouldn't swap places 

 w-ith John." 



Some one may say, "That's very pretty 

 talk ; but my experience has been that there's 

 hard work in bee-keeping, and lots of it." 

 Sure. But isn't there hard work in nearly all 

 kinds of play ? Do you work any harder at 

 bee-keeping than you do when you hunt or 

 fish all day ? Do you begin to work as hard 

 as the man who plays ball till he is as red as a 

 beet in the face, and is so sore and lame at 

 night that he can not lie still ? 



AS TO EDITORS OF BEE-JOURNAI.S. 

 It seems to some a matter of reproach that 

 editors of bee-journals are not completely in- 

 formed on all topics nearly or remotely con- 

 nected with the subject of bee-keeping. On 

 page 3S2 Arthur C. Miller complains of the si- 

 lence of the text-books and the ignorance of 

 editors as to the laws of heredity and the prin- 

 ciples of breeding ; and now F. L. Thompson, 

 in Progressive Bee Keeper, takes up the re- 

 frain at still greater length. This reproach 

 against the ignorance of bee-editors does not 

 seem to be bitterly resented by at least one 

 editor, for the editor of Progressive makes no. 

 word of reply, and it is not likely that any 

 other will attempt to deny the charge. No 

 one is more likely than the editor of a bee- 

 journal himself to be conscious of his need of 



inform'ation ; and the reproach that he has not 

 yet learned all that is to be known about bee- 

 keeping is likely to strike him much as would 

 the reproach that he has not strength to live 

 on without eating. 



The mistake that Mr. Thompson seems to 

 make is in supposing that editors of bee-jour- 

 nals pose as the repositories of all knowledge 

 on the subject of bee-keeping. If bee-keep- 

 ers had any such view, then their journals 

 would be made up entirely of editorials. But 

 at the present day no bee-journal is conduct- 

 ed on any such line. Instead of being filled 

 up entirely with what the editor has to say, 

 the bee-journal of the present day seeks con- 

 tributions from all quarters. If any bee-keep- 

 er has had special opportunity for becoming 

 particularly well informed on some one sub- 

 ject connected with bee-keeping, contributions 

 from him upon that subject will be eagerly 

 sought. Instead of a bee-journal being a 

 mouth-piece through which one man seated on 

 a pinnacle may deal out wisdom to the com- 

 mon herd below, it is, rather, a clearing-house 

 through which may pass in exchange the 

 gathered wisdom of all. 



Still greater is the mistake that a bee-jour- 

 nal should seek to repress knowledge upon a 

 subject with which the editor is not entirely 

 familiar. Having learned that an article hav- 

 ing some reference to the matter of scientific 

 queen rearing had been sent to appear in the 

 columns of this journal, Mr. Thompson says, 

 " I fear that either it will never get there, or, 

 if it does, it will be accompanied by a crush- 

 ing footnote, written more in sorrow than in 

 anger." If he will turn to page 382 he will 

 find the article in question, with a footnote 

 not at all " crushing," containing neither sor- 

 row nor anger. So far from that, he will be 

 rejoiced to find the footnote only commenda- 

 tory, saying, " Bee-keepers have much to learn 

 from the breeders of other fine stock," and his 

 joy will be increased to find that sufficient 

 progress has been made to commend heartily 

 in-breeding on the lines indicated. No, the 

 bee journal that seeks to repress knowledge 

 that may benefit bee-keepers in general would 

 be committing suicide. Tke watchword with 

 all should be, and probably is, " Let there be 

 light." 



R. WII,KIN — CAREER OF A REMARKABI,E 



MAN. 



R. Wilkin, whose death occurred just be- 

 fore the writer reached there, was one of the 

 pioneer bee-keepers on the Pacific coast, go- 

 ing to California in 1875 with a carload of 

 bees, and subsequently settling in the Sespe 

 Valley. 



His first experience with them was in help- 

 ing to prepare a shipment of bees for Mr. 

 Harbison, who was then about to leave Penn- 

 sylvania (where he was then residing) for 

 California. This was some time in the early 

 '50's ; and the result of this venture, and how 

 Harbison subsequently came to be the great 

 becking of California, owning and operating 

 at one time some 6000 colonies, are matters of 

 history. 



Mr. Wilkin began keeping bees while he 



